Process and apparatus for the manufacture of sheet glass



J. c. BLAIR 4 March 8, 1932.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET GLASS Filed Sept. 18. 1929 x U? 21 Z i k. v.

JZVmes C. B/a/r the manufacture of glass sheetsby'an inter from slower annealing of the glass. mittent forming operation.

' n ofmolten glass. The molten glassispreferarelatively high rate-of speed, each sheet Q '17; function to reduce the glass to a sheet of upon thespeed of trayelof the sheet isre v ealed while traveling atthis'saine'high rate the rear end of the preceding sheet as said 70 :30 glass rolled to sheet 'form at the rate o'fjsixty I Qther objects and advantages of the inven- '75 I H the construction, operation'and maintenance Inthe drawings forminga part ofthis'apso 7 it slower speed, to the'end'that there may be tion and' a- 1 achieved; with such process and; apparatus Fig. 3is atop planviewthereofi V "Patenied' v i i j I g i 1 JAMES c. BLAIR, or ToLEno; OHIO, AssIG R TO tinsnY-ownns aoanemissoomrAnY,

V OFTOLEDO OI-IIO, n conronA'r-ion oF oHIo 1 rnoonss Ann ArPARATos Eon. T E-MANUFACTUREJOF :sHEET GLA'ss V i Applicationfiled. Septeniber :18, 1929.@ Seria1. .1 Io. 393,539. I A I V This invention relates broadly to 1 the" ladvantagesincident to the rapid ;re manufacture of sheetglass'and more rpar-"duction of themoltenglassto sheet form ticularly to a process of andfap'paratus for and l kew se those advantages wh ch result Y 111 a some-what more specilic aspeca the In the production 'of sheet glassaccording inventioncontemplates the provision of such to one process, a plurality of successive a processand'apparatuswhereinaplurality sheets are intermittently rolled at predeof successive sheetsof glassare adapted to termined intervals from a series "of charges: be formed at predeterminedintervalsand at ably melted and refined within a suitable re- .being received as it is formed; upon S i b ceptacle or pot andpoured. therefrom'onto a conveying mechanism and carried forwardly receiver from where L it. is -moved to and at its speed of formation until it hasbecome passed between a pair of forming rollswhich cooled and set .to the desired extent where'- substantially predetermined and uniform duced and the said sheet delivered'intoan thickness; In the process just described, it is 'annealingleer through whichlit is caused to desirable that the molten glass passing to travelintermittently, 1 p the forming rollsbe rapidly reduced thereby T he inventionifurther j contemplates the 2? to sheet form soas not to adverselyaffectfprovision of-such aprocess 'and apparatujs the quality of the glass and also'in'order to wherein the speed of travel of-the sheetsinto speed up production. While it is e'xpedient i and through the annealingleer is "controlled to reduce the molten glass rapidly to sheet insuchamanner that theforward end of each;

' form,'it is not necessary that the glass be ansheet formed-will be'relativelyjclosely adjacent of speed and in fact such as undesirablefor sheets pass through the annealing leer to the the reason that in such event, the length of end that the leer may beutilized'to. itsfull; annealing leer necessary would have to be capacity andthus'render possible the elimina exceedingly long. For eXample,' were the ti'on oflarge gaps betweenadjacent sheets.

feet per minute and should it requiresixty' tion will become more apparent during the minutesto anneal the glass, it will" be seen course of the following descriptionvwhen that the leer necessary would have to be 3600 taken'inconnection with the accompanying feet in length, The objectionsfincident to drawings, I e

' of a leer of this length are believed to be plicationand'whe'rein like numerals are emobvious, j ployed to designate like parts throughoutthe c 7 In its broad aspect, the present invention same, 1 v, a f 5 contemplates'the provision of a process and v Fig. 11 is a vertical longitudinal section apparatus whereby a mass of molten glass through the forwardend portion of apparatus 85 may be reduced to sheet form at arelatively constructed in accordance with thepresent inhigh rate of speed, and thesheet subsequent: vention, p r 7 1y annealed while traveling at a' relatively- 2 is a similar view of the rear end por-j Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a receiver or support adapted to receive thereupon a mass or charge of molten glass 11 from a pot or receptacle 12. The molten glass is preferably deposited upon the receiver while the same is in a substantially horizontal position as indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 1, after which said receiver is tilted to its full line position so that the molten glass will be moved therefrom between the substantially superimposed sheet forming rolls 18 and 14: and reduced thereby to a sheet 15 of substantially predetermined and uniform thickness "The glass sheet 15'i'ssuing from between the forming rolls is received uponan inclined runway 6. wh ch fun t n to. g i let shee downwardly onto a horizontally disposed conveying table 17 which may be-termed the cooling section of the apparatus. This cooling section is composed of a plurality of horizontally aligned rolls 18 carried by shafts jo'urnaled at their opposite ends in the side members 19 and 20 which are supported at their opposite ends upon standards or supports 21. Therolls 18 of the cooling section are adapted to be driven in unison and this may beaccomplished through a chain drive 22 associated with the roll shafts and driven from a motor or-the like 23 or in: any other desired manner.

Positioned in line with the conveying table 17 is a second conveying table 2 1 constituting the transfer section of the apparatus. This transfer section is constructed in substantially the same manner as the cooling section 17 and is likewise composed of a plurality of horizontally arranged rolls 25 disposed in horizontal. alignment with the rolls 18 of cooldrive 26 operated from a motor 27 or in any other preferred manner;

Arranged atthe endof transfer section 24: is an anneahngleer 28 wlthin which is mounted a plurality of rolls 29 which constitute the annealing section of the sheet conveying mechanism. The leer rolls 29 are positioned in horizontal alignment with the rolls-18 and 25 of the cooling and transfer sections 1'? and" 24: respectively and may be driven from a motor 30-through a. chain drive 31 or by any other suitable means. From the above, it will be seenthat the rolls of the cooling section 17 transfer section 24: and annealing section 29 may be driven independently of'one another. According to the invention, the cooling section is adapted to be driven at alltimes at a constant speed approximately equal tothespeed of rolling the-transfer section being driven-at the rolling speed and also at a-somewhat slower so-called leer speed, while the annealing section is adapted to travel intermittently.

As above pointed out, it is desirable that the glass sheet-15- be formed at* a relatively ing section 17' and being driven by a chain.

high rate of speed and the forming rolls 13 and 14 are consequently driven in a manner that their peripheral speed will be such that they will function to rapidly reduce the mass of molten glass to sheet form. One of the forming rolls may be positively driven by suitable drive means 32 and the other roll driven from the positively driven roll through intermeshing gears 33 mounted upon the roll shafts.

In carrying'theinvention into practice, a mass of molten glass 11 is first placed upon the receiver 10 and then moved therefrom to the sheet forming rolls 13 and 14 and reduced thereby to a sheet 15 of substantially prede terlnined and uniform thickness. The glass is pr f a ly olled. at. a r a ively h g rate of speed say for example, sixty feet per minute and during. the. rolling operation the rolls 18 thecooling section 1'? and entire y onto the transfer sectlon 24 at rolling speed sothat the rolls 25 of transfer section are also being driven at approximatelysixty feet per minute during the receiving of the sheet thereupon irom the cooling section. After the sheet is entirely received upont'he transfer sectioin the speed of said section is reduced so as to slow down the. travel of the sheet to say approximately-'20 feet per minute and the sheet is transferred into the leer 28 while traveling at this reduced. speed. During the transfer of the sheet into the leer, the leer rolls 29 are ofv course, adaptedto be driven at the same speed as the transfer rolls 25. V] hen the sheet is. completely clear of the transfersection 2 1, the leeifrolls29 are stopped so as to bring the sheet to' astandstill and thesheet is maintained' stationary until" the following sheet has closed the gap between the sheets to the desired extent, whereupon the rolls 29 are again caused to travel at he reduced speed of the transfer" rolls to receive the next sheet from the transfer section. In this manner, the glass sheets are caused to travel intermittently through the leer, the glass sheets remaining stationary within the leer during the formation of each succeeding sheet and traveling only during the transfer of each sheet from the transfer section into the annealing leer. Thus, the sheets. can be formed at a relatively high rate of speed and annealed; whiletravelingat a relatively slower speed. The sheets will remain: stationary within the leer for the greater portion of each sheet formingcycle. Also, the gaps betweenadjacent sheets will be minimized so that the leerniay be utilized to its full capacity. Theleer speeds given herein are by way of iilustration only and the invention is not to be invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred embodiment of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts maybe 7 resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scopeof the subjoined l ,;6.:Tl 1e which consists in reducing a mass of molten claims.

I claim 1. The process of producing sheetglass,

which consists in reducing a mass of molten glass to sheet form at a substantially prede termined speed, then carrying the sheetfor-l ward on a conveyor means arranged 'in'a straight line, reducing the forwardmovement of the sheet and subjecting the same to annealing conditions, halting the forward move ment, forming a second sheet of glass andv conveying it toward the first, and then advancing both of said sheets forwardly through the leer and haltingthe sheets during the for-if mation of each succeeding sheet in'the mane ner set forth. 1

2.. The process of producing sheet glass,

which consists in reducing successive masses of molten glass into individual sheetsata substantially predetermined speed, carrying, the sheets forwardly through an annealing leer, interrupting the forward movement of the sheets, and holding them stationarydur ing the formation of succeeding sheets'so that v the sheets are carried in a straight line away from the forming means stepby step.

3. The process of producing sheet glass, which consists 1n reducing successive masses of molten glass into indivldual sheets at a substantially predetermined speed, conveying. the

sheets through aroller type leer at a speed less than the forming speed, and in holding the sheets in the leer stationary during the formation of'succeeding sheets so that the average speed of the sheet through the leer is relatively less than that of formation.

L The process of producing sheet glass,"

which consists in reducing successive masses of molten glass into individual sheets at a substantially predetermined speed, cooling the sheet, passing the sheet onto a transferring mechanism arranged in line with the vformlng means, reducing the speed of the sheet while on the transfer section, then for warding the sheet into and through a roller type leer, and periodically halting the 01. ward movement of the sheet through the leer and holding said sheet stationary during'the formation of succeeding sheets, 7 v 5. The process of'pr'oducing sheet glass,

which consists in reducing successive'masses of molten glass into individual sheets at a substantially predetermined speed, cooling the sheet, passing the sheet onto a transferring mechanism arranged in line With-the forming means, reducing the speed of the sheet 2 while on. the transfer section, then forwardring the sheet "into andthrough a roller type leer, and periodically halting,v the, forward movementof. the; sheet through theleer-and holding said sheetstationary. duringthe for- .mation of succeeding sheets, saidsheetsbeing advancedforwardly inrthe leer only during that time in which asucceeding sheet is being i moved from the transfer section into the of producing sheet glass,

glasslto sheet format a substantially prede termined speed, reducing thespeed of travel of thesheet and transferring it at such reduced speed into an annealing zone, and then alternately moving and stopping the sheet so that it advances through the annealing zone at an average speed relatively less than the transfer speed above mentioned, the sheets in the leer being carried forwardly only dur ing'that timethat a succeeding sheet is being transferred into the annealing zone.

conveyor, means for driving said conveyor at a constant speed, 'a transfer conveyor, sepatently driving the same; i

; '8. In glass apparatus, means for'forming successive sheets of glass, an annealing leer, a

means for receiving the sheet from the form 1 I ing means and conveyingit into and through said leer, said. means including a constant 7 speed receiving conveyor and a variablespeed transferconveyorpositioned in line with one another and arranged exteriorly of the leer, and conveying mechanism for carrying the sheet intermittently through said leer.

' 9; In glass apparatus, means for formingsuccessive sheets of glass, an annealing leer,- means'for receiving the sheet from the form- 7 ing means and conveying it into and through said leer, said'meansincluding aconstant speed receiving conveyor and a variable speed transfer conveyor positioned in line with one another and arranged exteriorly of the leer,and a roller conveyor for advancing the sheetistep by step through said leer.

- 10. In glass apparatus, means for forming successive sheets of glass,.an annealing leer, means for receiving the sheet from the forming means and conveying it into and through said'leer, said meansincludinga receiving conveyor, means for driving sald conveyor at a constant speed equalto the speed of sheet formation, a transfer conveyor for receiving rate means for driving the transfer conveyor i a at variable speeds, and an annealing conveyor and ndlvldual means therefor for intermltthe sheet from a receiving conveyor, variable means for driving the same at a speed equal to the speed of the receiving conveyor and also at a relatively slower speed, a roller conveyor errangedin an annealing section for receiving thesheetfr'om the transfer conveyor, and means for driving the same inter- 5 mittently sothat at one period of the cycle the conveyor is operated at a speed equal to the slow speed of the transfer conveyor and at other times the movement thereof is stopped entirely. r 19 Signed at Toledo in the county of Lucas and Stete of Ohio, this 14th day of September, 1929. p

\ JAMES C. BLAIR. 

